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Monthly Archives: March 2014

I need to remember my camera again!!! I was so good about it for a while and then I forgot once and it totally threw off my routine. I’m actually really exciting going into this week. While it was nice to stick to the schedule of doing the Open WOD every Friday, I’m looking forward to the freedom of doing Mon, Wed, & Thurs if I want, or even Friday added in too. One of my good friends just finished foundations at my box, so it’s really great to have a good friend there, even though I’ve been reaching out and making more friends there recently. Also, after the last two weeks of eating fairly crappy, I’m back on clean eating. While crappy for me is still better than most of the population, I still definitely could feel a difference.

Strength:

Back Squat 5-5-5-5: 115-115-115-115. Last week I said I was going to go up this week, but this week they specified that we were only to spend 90 seconds between each set. So with that, I decided to stick at 115, especially since I’m still SO SORE from 14.5 on Friday!

WOD for Time:

20 Handstand Push-Ups: 3:56. Rx was 50, but there was just no way that was going to happen!

Rest as needed.

Row 2000m: 8:57.5, Rx. Surprisingly, this actually wasn’t that bad! And I hate rowing! I pushed pretty hard for the first 500m, focused on just maintaining about 2:17/500m for the center 1000m, and then really hauled ass on the last 500m. My right ankle was bothering me and cramping up really badly, but I pushed through it and just foam rolled a ton at the end.

“Everybody knows what we’re going to be feeding them…but nobody has a clue to how we’re gonna serve it.” Truer words hath ne’er been spoken, Castro. Everyone knew: burpees and thrusters. But how. I was terrified they’d throw out the 7-min AMRAP burpees to 6″ target from 2012 Open season. That was baaaaaaad. But I think this is possibly the only thing that could be worse! Ha! I am still completely dealing with this stupidass headcold, which is absolutely the worst thing possible for burpees.

Workout 14.5: a sloooowwww (but complete!) 24:10

WOMEN – includes Masters Women up to 54 years old
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:

65-lb. thrusters

Bar-Facing Burpees

This was SO MENTAL for me. That weight is heavy for 84 freaking reps. Burpees are usually something I can fly through, and always have gas left in the take for. Nope. Not this time. I have neverwanted to DNF and quit a workout before as badly as I did this one. It felt awful, it felt incredibly long, it felt like I was dying, and it felt like I was moving as fast as possible but somehow barely moving at all. I’m so freaking proud of myself for finishing this one out. I kept thinking “It’s supposed to be hard. I’m doing this because it’s hard.” That helped to keep me motivated, for sure. The 18&15 rounds just about broke me. From there out I was fine, but man, they were tough. And just like that, as quickly as the Open season started, it ended!

I’m planning to write out a big post about my experience with the Open this year, but for now I’m just going to steal what was posted on my box’s site today, because it’s pretty perfect to how I’m feeling, and I need to get off my butt and head to crossfit now!:

Here are a couple takeaways from the last five weeks:
1) You are capable of more than you think you are. We say this every year, but it is so awesome to see (and hear about) people accomplishing things they didn’t think they could because they were forced to try. This can’t happen every day, but it is a good reminder that sometimes you’ve got to not be afraid to fail and just push yourself a little outside your comfort zone. You never know, you might surprise yourself.
2) Standards are important. Some of you might have been surprised to be “no-repped” or had some trouble meeting the required movement standards. You should strive to hold yourselves to these stringent standards every day, not just on the days that you’ve got a judge counting your reps. I promise it will make you a better athlete in the long run.
3) One of the most amazing parts of CrossFit is the camaraderie. If you participated in the Open, I’m pretty sure you enjoyed the cheering, support, and general energy of the Open WOD days. While not every day is a competition day, every day can be as supportive and full of energy as the past five Fridays. Remember how great it felt to have someone standing by you til the bitter end of those WODs, and replicate that the next time you finish early and start to pack up your stuff before everyone else is done. The support is one of the things that sets CrossFit boxes apart from the globo-gym – Please, please be conscious of that and do what you can to help foster the kind of atmosphere that helps everyone succeed.

Ugh. Caught a cold due to the crazy changes in weather. Still feeling kind of crappy, so I am going to keep this short and sweet.

Strength:

Back Squat 5-5-5-5: 115-115-115-115. Easy! I think the most I’ve ever done was 5-5-5 at 115, so this is a PR I guess? And they were surprisingly easy. Definitely going to go up to 125 next week. Especially since I have a cold and am generally feeling like crap today! Woopwoop!

WOD for Time: 8:36

5 Rounds of:

6 1 Arm DB Snatch: 35lbs, Level II.

5 Box Jumps: 24″, Level II.

6 1 Arm DB Hang Squat Clean: 35lbs, Level II.

First time doing 24″ box jumps in a WOD, I think!! Holy crap, they were super high, but definitely do-able. I enjoyed this a lot! The hang squat cleans were so awkward, and I definitely struggled with the left arm. But overall, a pretty great workout.

14.4 is…..a chipper!! I love chipper WODs! Mainly the chippers where once I finish one god-forsaken movement, I don’t have to readdress it again, like this one is! I’m writing this part before actually doing it. I’ve done some strategizing, reading up on Tabata Times again, and I feel pretty good going into it. I’m really going to try to keep the rowing steady (slow is fast!) and shoot for 60 cals in about 4 minutes. While everyone in the world is bitching about “rowing for calories” instead of distance, PCF has us row for calories surprisingly pretty often (omg, so glad I decided not to go to yesterday’s WOD that included multiple rounds of rowing sprints for calories) so I know that in an all-out sprint I get about 18cal/minute, and a more comfortable pace lies around 15 cals/minute. So that puts me right around 4 minutes if I can keep my head on right out of the gate. TTB will be 2s or singles because fuck TTBs and I don’t want any missed reps, wallballs will depend on how I’m feeling, and if I actually even make it to the cleans I will be doing singles. The TTB are going to be what slow me down the most, so my goal is just to make it to the wallballs and get through a significant chunk of them.

Workout 14.4: 153!!!

WOMEN – includes Masters Women up to 54 years old
Complete as many rounds and repetitions as possible in 14 minutes of:

60-calorie row

50 toes-to-bars

40 wall-ball shots, 14 lb. to 9-foot target

30 cleans, 95 lb.

20 muscle-ups

153 means I completed the rowing, the TTB, the wallballs, and 3 cleans!!

I had an awesome judge today named Fahran and she kept track of my times for everything, and was just all around really great. I finished the row in 4:03, which was right on time with how I wanted to do. I was dead though. Got on the bar and did sets of 2 for a few and quickly went to singles with a super fast turn-around. Not even 2 seconds between them most times. Hop down, hop up, TTB, hop down, etc. I finished the TTB at 10:03, and moved quickly to the wallballs. The coaches on Tabata Times were so right-your legs will have recovered from the row by the time you hit the wallballs. I felt fresh as a spring flower going into them, and did 10-10-10-5-5, and finished at 13:00. I had one minute to get some cleans in, and I managed to eek out 3, with the help of some serious yelling. I failed my first attempt and was PISSED. But then I managed to get 3, with the last one just barely making time. I’m stoked. Only one other female made it to the cleans in my class. I’m so proud of myself! I LOVED this workout too!!! Man, 14.3 and 14.4 have been so much fun. I’m glad, because 14.2 was a real downer for me, and for a lot of other folks. 4 down, 1 to go!

Wednesday already! How is that even possible?! Gosh I hope the next month goes by as quickly as this one is! So close to graduating. Ughghghg. So close, yet so so far. Taking it one day at a time. I can’t wait to get back to the beach!

Strength:

Deadlift 3-3-3-3: 165-165-165-165. I know, I know. Last week at Carteret I did 5-5-5 at 165. But THEN FRIDAY I did a million more heavy deadlifts in 14.3, and then this today?! I don’t think I’ve deadlifted this frequently EVER. I’m still (stilllllll) noodley from all of that nonsense, so I decided to match my weight from last week. They felt heavy as all get-out, and I was struggling by the last set. But I’m glad I’m at least consistently pulling decent weight!

WOD for Time: 8:36

21-15-9 of:

DB Squat Clean: 20lb dumbbells, Level II.

Pull-ups: 15-12-9 reps, Level II.

Quick little burner. My legs feel like jello! And pull-ups again after Monday’s large sets?! Come awwwwn. I don’t have much to say today. This week is insane. 14.4 announcement tomorrow!!!! Maybe wallballs and burpees this week? Bleh! They have to show up at some point!

Man, want to know pain? Sit in the car for 7 and a half hours after doing insane amounts of heavy deadlifts. Ow. I’m just really happy I took the time Friday afternoon to roll out my back and hamstrings for as long as I did, directly following 14.3. I can’t even imagine how it would have been had I not done that. Oh, and, I should probably mention, I spent Saturday on the beach in my babin’ suit. What do I come home to? SNOW. A million inches of snow, and below freezing temperatures. I can’t even believe this!!! At least I get an extra day of spring break, and was able to make it to crossfit since the roads had thawed out by 430. Ass is officially in gear. I’m going to attempt to start 4x/week this week. I’m nervous, but excited, because I’m ready to take the next step and push myself to the next level.

Strength:

Hang Power Clean and Jerk 3-3-3-3-3: 75-75-75-75-75. I’m still pretty noodley in my core from 14.3, so I stayed pretty light to protect my back in the jerks. I also used this as my first excursion into not dropping the weights from the top, but actually bringing the reps back down to my shoulders, then hips to reset, and then into the next rep. I haven’t done a lot of that since my elbow blew out last year, so that felt awesome.

WOD for Rounds+Reps: 3+14 Rx & 3+10 Rx

AMRAP in 5 Minutes of:

12 Pull-ups: Rx.

6 Burpees: Rx.

Rest 1 Minute, then…

AMRAP in 5 Minutes of:

10 Thrusters: 45lbs, Rx.

1 Rope Climb: Rx.

Since it was a full class, we paired up and had the option to pick which couplet we wanted to start on. I stupidly picked the pull-ups/burpees, and definitely regretted that as soon as I got to the thrusters. But! I did manage to eek out 7 pull-ups unbroken in the first round!!! That was awesome!!!! That’s a PR for max unbroken reps. I think I’m getting stronger, which is great, because I feel like the last three or so months I’ve been about at the same point. Ugh can’t I just be strong as all hell now?! As I mentioned before, I’m going to try to start going 4 times a week, because I feel like I need an extra push and to shake my body up a little bit to get past this plateau.

14.3!!!!! Three down, two to go!! And this workout was the first of them so far that when I finished I was stoked with my score and my performance. I absolutely freaking LOVED this workout. It just felt right. I liked the dynamic of adding reps and weights. I read the coaches’ tips for 14.3 on Tabata Times Friday morning, and based my strategy around that. I am definitely going to be doing that for the last two as well, because there was a ton of good insight. I decided early on that I would do step-ups/downs, because I’m fast at them and I knew that full box jumps would be nearly impossible after the deadlifts. I also knew that I’d have to take rest in the sets of 15 towards the end if I did full box jumps, and there just wasn’t time for that. My goal going into it was to make it to the 185lb round. And I did that! And then I got 3 reps at 185! Considering that is more than 90% of my 1RM deadlift, I am totally freaking stoked.

Workout 14.3: 93

WOMEN – includes Masters Women up to 54 years old
Complete as many reps as possible in 8 minutes of:

95-lb. deadlifts, 10 reps

15 box jumps, 20-inch

135-lb. deadlifts, 15 reps

15 box jumps, 20-inch

155-lb. deadlifts, 20 reps

15 box jumps, 20-inch

185-lb. deadlifts, 25 reps

15 box jumps, 20-inch

205-lb. deadlifts, 30 reps

15 box jumps, 20-inch

225-lb. deadlifts, 35 reps

15 box jumps, 20-inch

So I got through the 95s, 135s, 155s, and 3 of the 185s. As I said, I freaking LOVED this workout, and I am definitely going to revisit this in the future!!!

I’M AT THE BEAAAAAAAACH beachbeachbeachbeach. It would be impossible to try to explain how happy I am to be here (SPRING BREAK ’14!!!!!! Last SB of my undergrad!!!!!!!) but man, it’s so refreshing. It’s always great seeing my friends down here and crushing CrossFit Carteret’s grueling WODs with them, and then making a killer group post-WOD dinner together. Tomorrow is supposed to be super super nice out, so if you need me, I’ll be on the beach! Love me some beachy rest days. I’m so antsy for 14.3 this Thursday!!! I’ll be doing it down here, so I’m hoping it’s something in my wheelhouse that I can absolutely crush. So far, 14.1 and 14.2 have not been. I’m really hoping for nothing overhead, as my shoulders are in a constant state of being smoked lately. The upside to that? My shoulders are looking amaaaaazing! Baby boulder shoulders. I’m into it.

Strength:

Deadlift 5-5-5 @ 85% of 1RM: 165-165-165. Technically this was 80% of my 1RM, but the prescribed warmup sets for this were pretty decent (2 sets of 5 at 45%, 1 set of 3 at 65%, 1 set of 2 at 75%) so I was already feeling it pretty heavy in my back by the time I got to the last 3 sets of 5. I had a hard time getting the first rep of those off the ground while keeping my shoulders pinned back. On the first set it looked okay, but the second two were not so great. Once I get to the top of that first rep though, I can pin my shoulders and do the rest in great form; those first few inches get me every time.

WOD for Time: 20:30

4 Rounds of:

400m Run: subbed rowing.

25 Wall Balls: 14lbs to 9ft, Rx.

10 Ring Dips: Assisted.

This didn’t seem like it would be too bad, but I think the rowing sub killllled me. I forgot to bring my crossfit shoes down with me, and in anything else I could wear my crappy converses, but I just couldn’t stand the thoughts of pain that running in them would bring me. They’re so old and worn down in weird spots and totally not running shoes. I did remember my oly shoes though, so I wore those and they helped with the wallballs at least! These (100) wallballs felt better than the 90 I had to do in last Tuesday’s WOD at PCF though, and I really just felt like I was struggling the most because of how dead my legs were coming off of the rower.

Whoops, this ended up being a really wordy post! 14.2 announcement: lololololololololololololol. Dave Castro is such a troll. 14.2? More like 14.gof*ckyourself. Suchhhhh a bummer of a workout, for so many of us. They wanted to “break up the leaderboard” with this WOD, so they did this weird mashup of time cutoff & ascending reps (a bummer lovechild of 13.4 and 13.5) with a not-so-heavy OHS and chest-to-bar pull-ups. I wish it had been regular pull-ups for the first 2, 3 minute sets, and then climbed to C2B. Even though I did them in sets of 2s and a couple 1s, they just took forever. I’m really proud though, because I’ve definitely never consistently hit C2B pull-ups before so that’s a small win, I guess!! And on my 8th OHS (really my 9th, since I got a no-rep, ugh) my shoulder started rattling as I almost lost the weight backwards. I regained control, but man, that was a scary feeling. I am not trying to bring back DisloKatie with another dislocated joint!! I cleaned the barbell both rounds, and then hopped it over onto my back to pop it up into the top position. It took an extra couple of seconds, but the exertion it would have cost me snatching it to overhead just wasn’t worth it.

Anyway, after sleeping like complete crap last night and with my hands still being sore from Wedneday’s toes-to-bars, I set a goal to just make it though one round of 10 OHS and 10 C2B. I did that, and then got 4 more reps of OHS. Seems like nothing for 3 minutes of work, but man, I was going as fast as I possibly could. Pretty sure I don’t want to redo this one. I regret not trying 14.1 again, but I don’t think I’d make an improvement on this in the next couple days. Bummerpocalypse, CrossFit HQ.

Workout 14.2: an astounding 24 reps.

Every 3 minutes for as long as possible complete:
From 0:00-3:002 rounds of: